Kukla's Korner Hockey

Entries with the tag: college hockey

Considering its proximity to Canada, Michigan is the battleground for a fight that’s not new, but grows hotter each year. It’s one the NHL is also watching.

On one side is Berenson—an All-America player at Michigan—and his fellow college coaches, trying to convince North America’s best young players to commit to college hockey. On the other side is Canada’s major junior powerhouse, the Canadian Hockey League, where elite Canadians—and a growing number of Americans—parlay junior careers into NHL careers.

Berenson looked at the young players in front of him and offered a warning against choosing junior hockey.

It’s that time of week again… well, actually a day late, as yesterday’s news was to juicy to pass up, and there was more news this week than I expected. Anyway, it’s news round-up time. As I bring you news tidbits from around the CHL and NCAA Hockey from the last week. Honestly, I don’t even really enjoy doing these because there isn’t a lot of “writing” involved on my part… but alas… I have yet to have any better ideas… and I’ll be quite happy once the season gets rolling.

In what will likely become a regular staple here at Cluster Pucks… I go around the hockey leagues with news tidbits from the last week, and once the season gets underway, this will turn into more of a “recap” of various things, including scores and current standings from all the leagues which this blog covers.

Anyway, let the first installment of the chaos begin.

The biggest story this week, at least when it comes to my realm of coverage, was the announcement that the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will be played in Windsor, Ontario, as was reported by Paul on Wednesday. This is especially exciting news for me, as if I can afford to swing the budget, and land the proper press credentials, it will likely represent the first chance I’ll have as a new member of the hockey media to go and cover an event in person!

Athletic directors across the Big Ten plan to recommend that men’s ice hockey be established as an official conference sport, the Big Ten announced Monday.

In a press release issued at 1 p.m., the Big Ten reported that athletic directors at Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin intend to make the recommendation in June. The recommendation will go before the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors.

It will suggest that men’s ice hockey become an official conference sport effective with the 2013-14 academic year—with participation from all the universities noted above, according to the press release.

“We were motivated because we were afraid he would explode the next season and be one of the very best players in college hockey,” McNab said.

“It’s something we used to have success with, before the salary cap came, because you could spend a million or a couple of million on a guy that you really liked. Not every team believed in that sort of investment. But now, with the cap being tighter, the salaries for those players have gone down and more teams are getting involved. So it’s harder now.”

It seems that every off-season (and sometimes even during the season), more and more college hockey players are deciding to sign professional contracts and leave school early.

I have been representing professional hockey players for over 17 years, the majority of whom have come from the collegiate ranks. I have represented players that have stayed in college for four years, as well as some who have chosen to turn professional before their collegiate eligibility has expired. Every player’s situation is unique, and a number of factors must be considered when determining the best time for a particular player to become a professional.

continued… considering the issues a college player needs to evaluate before turning pro

Something was noticeably absent from Saturday’s sold-out, nationally-televised college hockey game at Madison Square Garden….

In particular, the game Saturday was televised, but was done so using the in-house MSG video feed. The regular broadcasters, Matt McConnell and Dave Starman, were not at the event, but rather called the game off video monitors from CSTV’s studios about a half-mile away from the Garden.

Clearly, budgetary concerns are at play. Advertising revenue has not been there for CSTV. And when CBS bought the network almost two years ago, it was unwilling to continue absorbing those losses. As a result, hockey has gone from the network’s signature sport, to a somewhat lesser role.